G R AV I T Y F I E L D S F E S T I VA L
Transforming the Town into
a Giant Laboratory
During the festival
Grantham will become
home to a series
of creative outdoor
‘laboratories’. These are
artistic interpretations
inspired by scientific
themes, famous scientists
and science fiction.
The transformation begins on
Thursday 25th September with
a newly commissioned dance
spectacle Chasing the Eclipse
from contemporary ballet company
Chantry Dance, produced in
partnership with Rosa Productions,
which will receive its first
performance on the Market Place.
Alongside the dancers you can visit
the Volatile Light exhibition from IOU
which is opening late on Conduit
Lane and experiment with outdoor
light painting with the IOU team when
it gets dark.
On the evening of Friday 26th the
outdoor activity moves mysteriously
to St Peter’s Hill where the new
giant emerges and ‘Colossus
Awakes’. A new laboratory is
created. London based outdoor
arts company Emergency Exit Arts
is joined by local performers and
media as the new giant emerges.
The laboratory pulsates with light
revealing eminent scientists as they
feed their secret experiment with
the power of knowledge mined from
the generations before them. In
neighbouring Abbey Gardens Catalan
artists display five giant puppeteer
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hands made of iron and wood…and
you can take control.
And on Saturday the streets of
Grantham close to traffic midafternoon and families can enjoy
indoor science displays and
activities in venues across the
town, at the Guildhall, in the George
Centre, at St Wulfram’s Church, at
the Market Stores and Grantham
Museum. As evening approaches the
entertainment begins on the streets.
At 4pm the festival food and craft
market begins in Narrow Westgate,
on the High Street and at St Peter’s
Hill. The fair is based in Wide
Westgate. At 5pm the walkers who
have been journeying In Newton’s
Footsteps ceremoniously bring
their historic silk banners from St
Wulfram’s to St Peter’s Hill and the
first outdoor show for young children
begins with Dizzy O’Dare opening
their Museum and the Wonderful
World of Mr E.
Then from 7pm to 9.45pm as night
falls across the town you can
watch performances of Chasing the
Eclipse, The Return of Colossus,
the Titeretú giant hands, and
around 1,000 college students, local
children and community groups
bringing seven small laboratory
sites to life with heads of some
of our most famous Giants of
Science surrounded by lanterns and
processional images symbolising
their work, with a procession along
the High Street between 9pm and
9.30pm.
Through the evening there will be
music, food and entertainment. We
hope you will enjoy our creative
exploration of some of the real
Giants of Science, and some….
well…more fictional Giants.